BEIRUT, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Iran renewed here on Friday calls to release its four kidnapped diplomats, who were believed to be jailed in Israel, local media reported.
The Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Fathali made the remarks on the 35th commemoration of the abducted diplomats, according to the National News Agency (NNA).
Fathali said the four diplomats, Mohsen al-Moussawi, Ahmed Metwsalian, Kazim Ikhwan, and Taqi Rastakar Muqaddam, were on a "humanitarian mission in Lebanon" before they were abducted in 1982.
He said the kidnapping, which happened during the Israeli invasion and occupation of the Lebanese capital Beirut, violated all international conventions governing immunity of diplomatic missions.
Fathali added that Iran holds Israel "primarily responsible for the crime," calling on "concerned international community institutions to carry out their duties revealing the fate of the kidnapped Iranian diplomats."
